Friday, 2 March 2018

Friday, 23 February 2018

Whenever Jinhua Juzhi was asked
a question about Zen, he raised a single finger and remained silent.

When he became older, he needed
the services of an attendant. It happened that the attendant took to imitating
his master. So when someone would ask about Juzhi’s teaching, the attendant
also just raised a finger. When Juzhi caught him in this mimicry, he grabbed
the attendant’s hand and, using a knife, cut off the offending finger. The
attendant screamed in pain and tried to rush from the room. Before he reached
the door however, Juzhi called his name. The attendant turned to look at the
master, and Juzhi raised a single finger. The attendant came to awakening.

Friday, 16 February 2018

Friday, 9 February 2018

One day, while the Buddha was
returning from his round of begging, he was accosted by an infamous murderer
named Angulimala.This man’s name was
derived from a gruesome necklace he wore which was made of the fingers cut from
people he had murdered.He had so
terrorized the region that King Pasenadi himself had taken command of the party
of soldiers which was seeking him.

Most people were afraid to travel
the roads while Angulimala was about, but the Buddha refused to alter his daily
habits.So it was that one day the
murderer came upon the Buddha walking calmly back toward the Jetavana
Grove.“Stop where you are, monk!” Angulimala
shouted.

“I stopped long ago, Angulimala,”
the Buddha replied.“It is you who have
not stopped.”

Angulimala, confused by this reply,
placed himself in front of the Buddha, preventing him from proceeding any
further.“Do you know who I am, monk?”

“I know who you are, Angulimala,”
the Buddha said.

“Well then, monk, what did you mean
by that?What did you mean when you said
you had stopped long ago, and that it was I who had not stopped?”

“Long ago, O Angulimala, I stopped
committing such acts as would cause suffering in others.Long ago, I cultivated the habit of
compassion for all living things.”

“Then you are a fool, monk.People are cruel and selfish.They deserve no less than they receive from
me.”

It is said that the Buddha’s compassion
was so great he could see and understand all the sufferings Angulimala had
experienced, the events in his life which had turned him into the man he was
now.“You have suffered much,
Angulimala,” the Buddha told him, gently.“You are correct in saying that people can, at times, be cruel and
selfish.But cruelty is the result of
ignorance.If people overcome ignorance,
they can become understanding and compassionate.You know, Angulimala, about suffering.Now you must learn about the cause of suffering,
the cessation of suffering, and the path which leads to the cessation of
suffering.You, too, can follow that
path, Angulimala.”

It is said that Angulimala had never
encountered one who spoke to him without fear or aversion.He was deeply moved, but he told the Buddha:
“It is unfortunate, monk, that I did not meet you long ago, before I entered on
this life of destruction.But I am gone
too far along my path to change now.”

“Not so, Angulimala.It is never too late to enter onto the path
that leads to liberation.”

“You are not as wise as you appear,
O monk!” Angulimala laughed.“Even if I
were to give up my life of destruction, others would not forget my deeds.Still King Pasenadi and his soldiers would
seek to take my life.”

“I will put you under my
protection,” the Buddha told him, “if you vow to forgo your current path of
hatred and undertake the religious life.”

Angulimala felt a deep sorrow and
repentance for all the violence of his past life, and he prostrated himself at
the feet of the Buddha, asking to be led on the path of liberation.He returned to the Jetavana Grove with the
Buddha, where his head was shaved.He
professed the three refuges and was received into the order.

Angulimala practiced the religious
life with such devotion that a profound transformation came over him in a
matter of weeks.He attained arhatta and
developed a peaceful and serene manner which impressed all who encountered
him.So he was given the name
Ahimsaka—the “gentle one.”

One day, not long after, King Pasenadi
and a battalion of his most seasoned soldiers dressed in full battle array rode
by on war horses.When he neared the
Buddha, who was accompanied by several bhikkus including the Arhat Ahimsaka,
the king dismounted and paid him reverence.

“Where is it that you go, O King,”
the Buddha asked, “arrayed thus as for war.Has the Kingdom
of Kosala been invaded by
warriors of some other land?”

“No, Lord, the land has not been
invaded,” the king told him.“But a
notorious murderer called Angulimala is reported to be in this area.We are searching for him and intend to slay
him before he can bring grief to any others by his violent deeds.”

“Is this Angulimala then so
dangerous that the king himself must hunt him down?” the Buddha asked.

“There is no doubt, Lord, that he is
a most dangerous and vicious criminal.No one in my kingdom is safe while he is about, and so it is my duty to
lead the search for him.”

“And what if, O King, this
Angulimala were to repent of his former misdeeds and take on the robes of a
bhikku, vowing to respect all living things.Would you still need to hunt him like an animal to slay?”

“Lord, if this murderer were to take
the robes of a bhikku and vow to respect all living things, I would myself pay
him the reverence due to a man of religion.But such a thing is not likely to occur.”

“Not so, O King,” the Buddha said,
indicating the Arhat Ahimsaka.“Behold
this monk, O King, who was once the murderer Angulimala and is now known as the
‘Gentle One.’”

And King Pasenadi was filled with
awe at the power of the Buddha’s teaching which could effect such a
transformation in a man like Angulimala.

Friday, 2 February 2018

Rick McDaniel

Rick McDaniel was raised in Indiana and moved to Canada in 1967, where he taught at the University of New Brunswick and Saint Thomas University before taking up a career in International Development and Fair Trade. He is the creator of the YMCA Peace Medallion. A long time Zen practitioner, he is the author of five books on the subject, including "Cypress Trees in the Garden" and "Catholicism and Zen."